t/ 


Christianity's  Becistot  f^our 

in  China 


Gate  of  the  Tung  Ming  Hwei,  one  of  the  Political  Party  Headquarters,  decorated 
with  flags,  evergreens  and  chrysanthemums 


The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  1889 


Christianity’s  Decisive  Hour  in  China 

I.  South  China 

REV.  H.  V.  NOYES,  D.D. 

“Half  a Million  Queues  Cut” — Christians  in  Office — 

The  New  Education — The  Fight  Against  Vice 

ON  the  loth  of  last  November  when  the  revolutionary  party  took  possession 
of  the  government,  the  inhabitants  of  Canton  were  wearing  queues.  But 
scissors  at  once  were  in  demand.  Barbers  multiplied.  A Fati  student 
showed  his  blistered  fingers  and  said  that  he  had  cut  off  150  queues  that  day. 
In  less  than  ten  days  more  than  half  a million  queues  had  disappeared.  In  a 
long  walk  through  the  crowded  streets,  not  one  was  seen.  Nothing  visible  gave 
a stronger  impression  of  the  willingness  of  the  people  to  discard  the  old  govern- 
ment and  welcome,  the  new.  What  had  been  tenaciously  worn  for  250  years,  as 
a national  badge,  and  a sign  of  allegiance  to  the  Manchu  government,  was  gone 
and  gone  forever. 

Are  the  hopes  of  the  people  for  benefit  from  the  change  likely  to  be  realized? 
The  following  are  favorable  indications. 

1.  Like  the  central  government  at  Peking,  the  provincial  government  is  every 
day  getting  a stronger  grip  on  the  situation.  The  lawlessness  which  came  with 
a,  sweeping  change  of  officials,  and  the  subsidizing  of  robber  bands  for  soldiers, 
is  now  largely  under  control.  Military  rule,  with  its  many  summary  executions, 
which  seemed  harsh  to  many,  but  which  perhaps  for  the  time  were  necessary, 
has  given  place  to  the  milder  forms  of  civil  administration.  The  prospect  of  se- 
curing necessary  funds  is  all  the  time  growing  brighter. 

2.  The  changed  attitude  towards  Christianity.  This  is  more  than  simple  re- 
ligious toleration.  Under  the  old  regime,  students  in  mission  schools  and  preach- 
ers were  not  even  allowed  a voice  in  the  election  of  members  to  the  Provincial 
Assembly.  Now  they  may  not  only  be  members  of  the  Assembly,  but  have  been 
placed  in  many  important  official  positions.  The  four  leading  officials  who  have 
successfully  brought  under  subjection  the  turbulent  bandits  who,  from  their  moun- 
tain retreats,  were  making  all  the  northwestern  parts  of  the  province  around 
Lienchou  unsafe,  are  graduates  of  the  Fati  Theological  Seminary.  The  present 
Commissioner  of  .Education  is  the  Dean  of  the  Canton  Christian  College.  A 
high  official  in  the  foreign  office  was  the  principal  of  the  High  School  of  /the 
Baptist  Mission.  The  present  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  a Christian  and! 
the  son  of  a preacher.  Many  more  names  could  be  added  to  this  list. 

3.  The  Educational  Bureau  is  reviving  interest  in  educational  work.  It  is  laying 
plans  for  a system  of  graded  schools  from  the  Kindergarten  up  to  the  University. 
It  is  also  giving  attention  to  education  for  industrial  occupations,  placing  lines 
of  study  in  this  direction  in  its  curricula.  Proclamations  have  been  posted  re- 
quiring children  to  attend  school.  A Normal  School  with  about  1,000  students 
has  been  established.  A plan  is  on  foot  to  send  lecturers  through  all  parts  of 
the  province  to  explain  republican  principles  and  show  the  importance  of  educa- 
tion to  insure  their  success.  Some  of  the  Christian  Chinese  are  giving  dramatic 
exhibitions  showing  the  absurdity  or  uselessness  of  some  of  the  Chinese  customs 
as  compared  with  the  results  of  Christian  teaching,  and  these  are  attracting  large 
audiences. 

4.  The  government  is  suppressing  gambling,  opium  selling,  opium  smoking, 
and  houses  of  ill-fame. 

5.  Benevolent  institutions  have  been  encouraged  and  established.  The  Superin- 
tendent of  Police  has  not  only  been  vigorously  clearing  the  city  of  thieves  and 
robbers,  but  is  much  interested  in  otherwise  benefiting  the  people.  He  has  been 
for  some  time  a friend  and  helper  of  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane.  Now  he  has 
turned  his  attention  to  the  blind  and  is  planning  a home  for  them.  Meanwhile 


he  has  asked  Dr.  Niles  to  take  charge  of  nearly  one  hundred  whom  he  has 
already  gathered. 

The  largest  scheme  at  present  is  a home  and  school  for  slave  girls.  These 
are  usually  bought  to  be  servants  in  families.  Their  lot  is  often  a hard  one. 
The  effort  is  probably  to  do  away  with  this  custom  entirely.  Already  some  500 
of  these  slave  girls  have  been  placed  in  a large  public  building  in  Fati.  Some 
of  these  are  freed  by  those  who  own  them,  others  where  abused  are  rescued 
by  the  police.*  They  are  taught  both  book-learning  and  various  forms  of  indus- 
try so  as  to  be  able  to  care  for  themselves.  The  teachers  employed  are  Christians 
from  various  missions.  This  seems  like  a promising  field  for  Christian  influence. 
We  were  asked  some  weeks  ago  whether  these  girls  might  attend  the  Fati  Church 
services.  They  were  assured  of  a warm  welcome,  but  they  were  not  then  per- 
mitted to  come.  Mrs.  Noyes  then  wrote  to  the  Superintendent  of  Police  asking 
whether  she  could  visit  the  school.  His  reply  expressed  a warm  appreciation  of 
the  work  the  missionaries  are  doing,  but  suggested  some  delay  lest  the  people 
in  general  might  not  be  pleased.  The  door  will  no  doubt  open  wider  in  due 
time.  Restraints  seem  less  already  as  some  of  the  inmates  have  lately  attended 
church  services. 

The  above  are  some  of  the  indications  of  how  widely  the  field  of  opportunity 
is  opening  in  South  China,  and  how  this  old  Eastern  Empire  after  long  years 
of  delay  is  at  last  “rolling  out  of  the  darkness  into  the  light.” 

*Note — When  these  slave  girls  were  arrested  it  was  found  that  some  of  them  were  blind,  and  the 
Presbyterian  School  for  the  Blind,  under  the  charge  of  Dr.  Mary  Niles  and  Miss  Lucy  Durham,  was 
asked  to  take  these  blind  slaves  in  their  care  until  the  Chief  of  the  Police  could  provide  a home  for  them. 
A full  account  of  this  is  given  in  the  January  number  of  "All  the  World.” 


II.  Shanghai 

REV.  GEORGE  F.  FITCH. 

Changes — Foot-Binding  and  Opium-Smoking — 

The  Passing  of  the  Idol 

FORTY  years  ago  the  writer  was  struggling  with  the  intricacies  of  the  Chinese 
language,  trying  to  detect  those  delicate  distinctions  in  sound  which  are 
so  easy  to  the  Chinese  but  so  difficult  to  the  untrained  foreigner,  and  with- 
out which  he  might  be  calling  a foreigner  a sheep,  or  The  Lord  of  Heaven,  the 
Cook  of  Heaven.  Many  valuable  helps  have  since  been  provided  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  this  marvelous  language,  so  that  the  road  is  somewhat  shorter  and  not 
quite  so  thorny,  but  the  Chinese  language,  with  its  strange  sounds  and  symbols 
and  idioms,  still  remains. 

At  that  time  the  English  and  American  Settlements  of  Shanghai,  now  called 
the  International  Settlement,  was  a small  place  of  a few  tens  of  thousands  of 
Chinese!  and  a little  over  a thousand  foreigners.  Now  it  is  a great  city  of  over 
half  a million  Chinese — not  including  the  French  Settlement  and  the  Chinese  City 
beyond  where  there  are  probably  as  many  more  Chinese,  say  a million  in  all — - 
and  fifteen  thousand  foreigners.  Then  there  were  no  waterworks,  but  we  drank 
the  waters  of  the  muddy  Whangpoo,  which  were  clarified  by  being  put  into 
“kangs”  or  large  earthen  jars  and  stirred  with  alum  which  soon  caused  the  mud 
to  settle  to  the  bottom,  after  which  the  water  was  boiled  and  filtered  before  drink- 
ing. Now  even  the  native  city  has  its  own  waterworks  and  clear,  wholesome 
water  is  carried  to  all  who  desire  it. 

Missionaries  were  very  few  in  those  days  and  their  operations  confined  to  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  cities.  Missionary  methods  were  perhaps  rather 
crude  owing  to  lack  of  experience  and  the  difficulties  inherent  in  the  beginnings 
of  work  in  such  a vast  field  and  among  such  an  intellectual  people.  The  mis- 
sionary of  today  has  a rich  inheritance  in  the  experience  of  the  past,  and  he 
certainly  is  a dullard  who  does  not  profit  by  it.  In  accordance  with  the  spirit 
of  the  age  they  are  also  working  more  hand  in  hand,  and  their  work  is  becom- 
ing more  co-ordinated  and  unified.  Forty  years  ago  we  were  very  much  divided 
as  to  the  proper  terms  for  God  and  Holy  Spirit;  today  we  are  almost  a unit, 
effected  not  so  much  by  compromise  as  by  a better  understanding  of  one  an- 
other and  of  the  Chinese  language. 

Then  the  voice  of  the  missionary  was  lifted  up  against  foot-binding  and  opium- 
smoking, but  his  cry  seemed  scarcely  heard.  Now  both  of  these  are  being  banned 
by  the  majority  of  the  well-to-do  everywhere,  and  the  missionary  is  simply  a 


f 


co-worker  in  these  reforms  among  a vast  multitude.  The  queue,  that  relic  of 
Manchu  rule  and  badge  of  servitude,  is  fast  passing  forever.  It  is  true  that 
many  of  the  people,  especially  in  out-of-the-way  places  are  still  sceptical,  not 
yet  satisfied  that  Republicanism  has  come  to  stay,  or  that  the  Manchus  will  not 
again  return  to  power  when  every  queueless  head  would  be  lopped  from  its  shoul- 
ders— or  so  they  believe.  While  in  great  cities,  like  Shanghai  and  Hangchow, 
but  (few  queues  are  to  be  seen,  in  a recent  trip  across  the  country  I counted 
twenty  queues  to  two  queueless. 

But  for  Christianity  the  decisive  hour  would  seem  to  have  come.  There  are 
open  doors  such  as  never  existed  before.  There  are  opportunities  which  are 
simply  glorious  in  their  possibilities,  provided  the  Christian  Church  is  prepared 
to  enter  in  with  needed  men  and  means,  and  a faith  that  will  move  mountains. 
China  is  at  the  parting  of  the  ways,  not  only  as  regards  her  government,  but  also 
as  regards  her  religion.  She  is  parting  rapidly,  in  many  places,  with  her  idolatry. 
It  is  said  that  in  one  city  in  the  south  the  Buddhist  nunneries  have  all  been 
closed.  All  •those  beyond  thirty  years  of  age  are  allowed  to  remain,  and  will 
be  cared  for  at  the  public  expense.  Those  between  fifteen  and  thirty  were  to 
be  advertised  and1  sold  for  wives  at  two  dollars  and  a half  each,  while  those 
under  fifteen  were  to  be  placed  in  training  schools  and  well  taught  and  pro- 
vided for.  In  some  places  even  Confucius  is  being  dethroned  from  his  position 
as  a demi-god,  and  given  only  his  appropriate  place  as  a philosopher  and  a sage. 

As  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  new  spirit  of  change  that  is  coming  over 
the  people  the  writer  might  mention  that  he  was  recently  invited  to  officiate  at 
a Chinese  wedding  which  was  solemnized  in  the  Union  Church  (English)  of 
this  place,  at  which  some  of  the  Chinese  guests  came  in  automobiles,  and  he 
was  himself  actually  given  a fee,  the  first  in  all  his  experience  of  Chinese  wed- 
dings, indeed  it  has  always  been  the  other  way. 

The  great  question  of  the  hour  is,  shall  this  great  people  be  taught  what  sin 
really  is;  and  that  while  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  yet  the  gift  of  God  is  eter- 
nal life  through  Jesus  Christ?  We  rejoice  greatly  in  the  Forward  Movement 
which  is  taking  place  in  the  United  States,  looking  to  a campaign  somewhat 
commensurate  with  the  demands  of  the  hour.  Our  trust  is  that  it  will  not  be 
a spasmodic  effort,  but  long  continued  and  persistent,  until  all  of  these  millions 
shall  know  Christ. 


III.  Shantung 

J.  B.  NEAL,  M.D. 

The  Visit  of  Dr.  Sun — The  Great  Railway  Development — 

The  Permanent  Constitutional  Government 

AS  I sit  down  to  write  this  morning  on  the  present  situation  in  this  empire, 
the  city  of  Tsinan,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Shantung,  with  its  popu- 
lation of  thirty  millions,  is  all  agog  with  excitement  over  a visit  from 
Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  the  remarkable  man  who  engineered  the  revolution  against 
the  Manchus,  and  when  they  were  safely  gotten  out  of  the  way  laid  down  his 
office  of  Temporary  President  of  the  Chinese  Republic  in  favor  of  Yuan  Shih 
Kai,  as  being  the  strongest  man  the  Republicans  could  put  up  to  reorganize 
the  country. 

No  man  in  China  holds  the  unique  position  that  Dr.  Sun  does  today,  nor  is 
any  man  so  popular  among  all  classes,  even  the  Manchus  vying  with  each  other 
to  do  him  honor,  during  his  recent  stay  in  Peking. 

Yesterday  crowds  went  out  to  meet  him  at  the  railway  station  on  his  arrival 
from  Tientsin,  the  streets  were  hung  with  the  five-colored  flag  of  the  Repub- 
lic, and  between  five  and  six  the  Governor  gave  a reception  for  him  at  his 
official  residence,  to  which  were  invited  a few  foreigners  and  many  from  among 
the  Chinese  engaged  in  educational  work  in  the  city.  We  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  and  having  some  conversation  with  Dr.  Sun,  who  is  a very  unassum- 
ing, modest  man,  of  medium  height,  whom  one  would  never  suspect  of  being 
capable  of  twenty  years  of  quiet  persevering  work  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
Manchu  Dynasty,  to  be  crowned  with  complete  success  in  the  end.  He  is  said 
to  be  a member  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  evidently  is  deeply  interested 
in  education,  as  he  is  this  morning  holding  a review  of  all  the  schools  in  the* 
city  at  the  hall  used  for  the  meetings  of  the  Provincial  Assembly. 


The  parade  of  the  Christian  Students  on  the  day  when  they  were  invited  to  visit  the  Government  and  Gentry  Schools  and  the  officials  in  Wei 
Hsien  City.  The  students  are  stopped  before  the  gate  of  one  of  the  Political  Party  Headquarters  in  the  City.  The  Wei  Hsien 
City  wall  appears  on  the  right  and  the  East  Gate  in  the  distance 


Dr.  Sun’s  particular  hobby  just  now  is  the  development  of  railways  through- 
out the  empire,  especially  lines  running  east  and  west,  the  two  trunk  lines  already 
in  existence,  one  from  Peking  to  Hankow,  and  the  other  from  Tientsin  to 
Nanking,  serving  pretty  well  to  connect  the  north  and  south,  so  far  as  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  country  and  the  Yangtse  valley  are  concerned,  and  later' the  line 
from  Hankow  to  Canton  will  serve  the  southern  district.  He  plans  for  three 
great  trunk  lines  from  east  to  west,  one  in  the  south,  one  in  the  center  and 

one  in  the  north  of  the  country,  somewhat  on  the  came  lines  as  our  great  trans- 

continental roads,  from  which  I have  heard  he  got  the  idea. 

As  to  the  present  situation,  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  the  Republic 
has  come  to  stay,  and  that  it  will  be  a great  improvement  over  the  ancient  Manchu 
regime,  but  poor  old  China  has  a long  road  to  travel  yet  before  she  gets;  rid 
of  the  system  of  squeezing  and  general  corruption,  which  seems  to  permeate 
the  whole  body  politic  from  the  highest  officials  down  to  the  coolie  class. 

Last  Sunday  the  first  anniversary  of  the  beginning  of  the  revolution  was 
celebrated,  the  ioth  of  October  being  the  date  when  the  first  gun  was  fired  in 

Wuchang  which  lit  up  the  flames  which  rapidly  spread  over  the  whole  coun- 

try. Never,  I suppose,  in  all  history  has  such  a wide-spread  and  thorough-going 
revolution  been  accomplished  with  so  little  bloodshed.  It  makes  one  feel  rather 
proud  to  know  that  the  Christians  throughout  the  country  are  all  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  new  government  and  are  entering  into  the  spirit  of  the  new 
order  of  things  with  great  enthusiasm.  Almost  to  a man,  I should  say,  they 
are  staunch  Republicans,  which  we  Americans  of  course  feel  is  quite  the  right 
thing,  and  the  only  attitude  they  could  take  with  their  .training  under  their  for- 
eign teachers  from  countries  with  so  much  political  freedom. 

Before  this  article  is  in  print  the  permanent  government  will  have  been  in- 
augurated in  Peking — the  date  set  being  some  time  in  December,  I believe — and 
readers  of  this  leaflet  will  have  had  a chance  to  judge  from  the  dispatches 
from  Peking  how  matters  are  progressing.  We  all  hope  that  Yuan  Shih 
Kai  will  be  elected  permanent  President  and  I am  informed  that  Dr.  Sun 
is  advocating  this  course,  as  President  Yuan  has  the  confidence  of  the  foreign 
powers  as  no  one  else  has,  and  is  an  exceedingly  strong  man.  All  of  us  who 
came  into  contact  with  Yuan  during  the  Boxer  times  are  impressed  with  his 
strength  of  character  and  his  ability  to  establish  the  new  Republic  on  firm 
foundations,  if  only  he  is  well  supported.  A danger  which  seemed  to  threaten 
the  stability  of  the  government  some  time  since,  but  which  seems  to  have  been 
dissipated,  was  quarrels  between  rival  parties  in  Peking.  The  visit  of  Dr. 
Sun  to  Peking  and  his  support  of  Yuan  Shih  Kai  has  had  an  excellent  influence 
in  promoting  harmony,  and  it  is  now  hoped  that  Yuan  will  be  elected  Presi- 
dent, with  little  or  no  opposition,  and  that  all  parties  will  unite  with  him  in 
establishing  peace  and  order  throughout  the  country.  Christian  Chinese  are  in 
positions  of  power  and  influence.  The  Church  has  the  opportunity  of  the  ages. 


IV.  North  China 

REV.  C.  H.  FENN,  D.D. 

The  First  Presidential  Reception— A “Bien” — 

A Great  Sunday  School  Procession 

LITTLE  more  than  a year  ago  who  would  ever  have  thought  of  receiving 
an  invitation  to  a President’s  reception  in  China?  It  is  true  that  there 
have  been  not  a few  imperial  receptions  in  Peking,  during  the  past  few 
years,  to  which  the  high  and  mighty  of  other  lands  have  been  invited,  and  a 
few  others  have  squeezed  in  as  interpreters ; but  these  have  been  formal  in  the 
extreme,  and,  while  an  advance  on  the  past,  have  been  distinctly  imperial  in  their 
dignity.  The  approach  of  the  first  anniversary  of  the  revolution  has  brought 
to  us  foreigners,  one  and  all,  an  open  invitation  to  watch  China’s  President  re- 
view the  troops  of  the  Republic,  partake  of  a foreign  luncheon,  and  pay  our 
respects  to  the  President  himself,  his  Cabinet  and  many  other  high  officials, 
who  mingled  freely  among  us.  It  was  indeed  an  unique  occasion.  Several 
scores  of  officials,  who  a year  ago  would  have  appeared,  if  they  appeared  at 
all,  in  gorgeous  silk  and  embroidered  robes,  with  the  official  hat  and  button 
and  peacock  feather,  and  queue,  and  stood  and  bowed  with  infinite  dignity,  were 


t 


Students  from  the  Christian  schools,  Government  and  Country  schools  and  the  Merchants’  Guild  drawn  up  in  lines  between  the  speaker’s  platform  and  the  arch, 
the  merchants  are  in  the  first  few  rows,  the  Government  students  in  uniform  behind  them,  while  the  four  hundred  Christian  students  from  the  College 
and  the  Point  Breeze  Academy  are  behind  them.  Wei  Hsien  City  wall  shows  at  the  left  of  the  picture  and  the  East  suburb  wall  at  the  right 


sauntering  about  in  a crowd  of  foreigners  dressed  in  foreign  frock  coats  and 
with  foreign  silk  hats,  which  they  raised  in  approved  fashion  from  queueless 
heads  as  they  held  out  the  right  hand  for  the  foreign  shake  and  uttered  foreign 
greetings  in  a foreign  tongue.  Some  of  the  costumes,  it  is  true,  were  odd  com- 
binations; the  foreign  hat  without  the  foreign  clothes,  a frock  coat  over  an 
extremely  bright  blue  vest,  a frock  coat  made  of  native  satin,  etc. ; but  they 
were  not  as  bad  as  we  see  on  the  street,  where  the  foreign  socks  and  Boston 
garters  are  worn  outside  the  trousers,  or  the  whole  “foreign”  costume  may 
consist  of  a suit  of  balbriggans ! The  oddest  touch  of  the  old  in  the  Presi- 
dent’s reception  was  the  presence  of  the  living  Buddha  of  Inner  Mongolia,  with 
his  suite  of  llamas  in  yellow  and  lavender.  The  reception  wound  up  with  a 
regular  American  “three  cheers  and  a tiger”  for  the  President  as  he  passed 
through  our  midst  with  his  cordial  salutes.  For  that  day  and  the  two  which 
followed  it,  vast  throngs  of  queueless  citizens  passed  in  and  out  of  a large  court 
in  the  southern  city  where  Occidental  and  Oriental  athletics  were  presented  side 
by  side,  and  relics  of  the  revolutionary  heroes  were  exhibited 

The  new  cordiality  of  our  relations  with  our  neighbors  has  recently  been 
exhibited  in  the  presentation  to  the  members  of  this  compound  of  a “bien”  in 
recognition  of  the  protection  afforded  the  neighborhood  at  the  time  of  the  loot- 
ing last  spring.  For  months  we  had  been  planning  with  our  neighbors  for  mu- 
tual protection  in  case  of  a revolutionary  upheaval  in  the  city.  This  finally  did 
not  occur,  but  when  the  soldiers  in  the  city  mutinied  and  plundered  and  burned 
large  areas  of  the  business  streets,  the  safest  places  were  the  Mission  com- 
pounds and  the  immediately  adjoining  buildings,  as  these,  even  though  unguarded 
by  foreign  soldiers,  were  scrupulously  spared.  Our  neighbors,  especially  a wealthy 
shop  to  the  west,  appreciated  the  fact  that  they  owed  their  immunity  to  our  pres- 
ence, and  expressed  their  gratitude  for  this  and  for  the  quieting  effect  of  the  pres- 
ence of  foreign  soldiers  shortly  after,  by  putting  up  in  our  gateway  a very  expen- 
sive signboard,  or  “bien,”  acknowledging  their  indebtedness.  It  is  really  quite  a 
handsome  decoration.  One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  incident,  how- 
ever, is  the  fact  that  our  local  Chinese  minister  does  not  like  to  look  at  it  as  it 
reminds  him  more  strongly  of  the  shameful  looting  of  the  city  by  soldiers  of 
his  own  country  than  it  does  of  the  gratitude  of  our  neighbors  ! This,  too,  is  a 
sign  of  the  new  spirit.  , 

Another  unique  event  in  China  is  a Sunday  school  procession  through  the 
streets  of  the  capital!  In  the  neighborhood  of  2,000  Sunday  school  scholars 
from  the  various  schools  in  the  city,  on  the  first  Sunday  in  October,  marched, 
with  banners  flying,  through  the  great  streets  of  the  city  to  the  most  central 
of  the  Christian  churches,  where  a great  meeting  in  the  interests  of  the  work 
was  held.  The  Sunday  schools  of  the  city  are  all  being  reorganized  on  strictly 
modern  lines,  through  the  activity  of  the  resourceful,  energetic  secretary  of  the 
new  Chinese  Sunday  School  Union.  This,  too,  is  revolutionary. 

The  students  of  our  Union  Theological  College  are  realizing  the  vastly  in- 
creased opportunities  for  evangelism,  and  are  of  their  own  accord  organizing 
work  at  various  marketplaces  in  the  city,  to  which  they  go  as  often  as  time 
permits.  The  whiteness  of  the  harvest  and  the  fewness  of  the  laborers  are 
impressing  many.  Three  young  men  came  to  me  the  other  day,  asking  when 
we  would  organize  another  Special  Class  (for  non-college  graduates)  as  they 
were  all  anxious  to  join  it  and  prepare  themselves  for  a ministry  of  redemp- 
tion to  their  fellow-countrymen. 

Our  nearest  out-station  to  the  city,  at  Ching  He,  had  been  so  barren  of 
fruitage  for  several  years  that  we  were  talking  seriously  of  abandoning  it  en- 
tirely. Suddenly  the  word  came  that  the  place  was  thronged.  A large  number 
of  students  had  just  come  to  the  near-by  Military  School,  among  them  about 
100  Christians  from  other  parts  of  China,  and  large  relays  of  them  were 
flocking  to  the  chapel,  which  is  altogether  too  small  to  accommodate  these  crowds 
and  the  others  who  are  drawn  in  by  their  coming.  This  field  also  presents  a 
large  opportunity  in  the  woolen  mills  which  are  not  far  away,  and  still  an- 
other in  the  Ching  Hwa  College,  the  school  maintained  with  the  portion  of  the 
Boxer  indemnity  returned  or  remitted  by  the  United  States.  At  this  school 
are  more  . than  three  hundred  students,  a large  number  of  them  Christians,  and 
some  of  them  so  eager  for  Christian  worship  and  fellowship  that  they  ’walk 
three  miles  to  find  it  at  the  little  chapel  at  Ching  He. 

In  the  city  our  schools  are  overflowing,  and  the  ingathering  of  inquirers  from 
our  street  chapels  and  through  the  influence  of  our  members  is  larger  than 
ever;  but  we  are  constantly  appalled  by  the  number  of  inviting  doors  that  we 
are  positively  unable  to  enter  on  account  of  the  insufficiency  of  our  force. 


t 


Students  from  the  Government  and  Gentry  Schools  at  the  Triumphal  Arch  on  the  river  bank  at  Wei  Hsien 


V.  Hunan 

REV.  A.  R.  KEPLER. 

Robert  Morrison  and  the  New  Republic— “The  Army  of  Heavenly 
Salvation” — The  New  Station  at  Changsha 

I HAVE  just  come  in  from  the  street.  A few  minutes  ago  I passed  a com- 
pany of  fifty  or  more  girls,  sixteen  years  of  age  or  thereabouts,  marching 
along  the  streets,  preceded  by  flags  and  buglers.  They  were  the  students 
of  the  Siangtan  Middle  School  for  Girls,  parading  the  city,  and  celebrating  the 
first  anniversary  of  the  launching  of  the  revolution  in  Wu  Chang. 

This  incident  evidenced  several  phases  of  the  tremendous  forward  movement 
in  China.  Six  years  ago  such  a spectacle  would  have  been  unheard  of  any- 
where in  China,  not  to  mention  this  interior  and  most  conservative  province  of 
Hunan.  In  the  first  place,  there  would  not  have  been  any  Girls’  School,  except 
such  as  were  conducted  by  missions;  secondly,  respectable  girls  would  not  have 
ventured  out  in  such  fashion  on  the  streets;  thirdly,  had  they  wanted  to  do  so, 
it  would  have  been  impossible  for  them  to  march  with  tiny,  bound  feet;  more- 
over, there  was  not  enough  patriotism  in  the  land  to  call  forth  such  a demon- 
stration. 

Not,  however,  that  these  new  movements  are  the  result  of  the  past  six  years 
alone.  That  Chinese  statesman  read  history  aright,  who  said  that  the  Chinese 
revolution  had  its  inception  on  the  day  Robert  Morrison,  the  first  Protestant 
missionary,  arrived  in  China  in  1807. 

The  face  of  China  has  undergone  quite  a change  in  the  past  twelve  months, 
at  least  in  Hunan.  Unfortunately  we  cannot  say  that  the  change  in  appearance 
has  invariably  been  for  the  better.  Almost  every  eligible  citizen  is  making  a 
strenuous  effort  to  raise  a mustache,  mostly  with  feeble  results.  It  is  nearly 
as  difficult  to  find  a queue  in  Hunan  today  as  it  was  to  see  a queueless  man 
a year  ago.  So  many  of  the  men  find  a perfectly  clean  shave  of  the  pate  the 
easiest  way  of  getting  rid  of  the  offending  queue,  that  one  at  first  wonders  if 
a large  part  of  the  male  population  has  joined  some  Buddhist  monastic  order. 
Most  of  the  rest  have  their  hair  cut  in  such  individualistic  styles,  that  one  is 
tempted  to  wish  that  they  too  would  join  the  shavers.  You  see,  we  are  a thou- 
sand miles  from  the  coast,  and  we  are  a little  behind  our  fellow  citizens  there 
in  adjusting  ourselves  perfectly  to  the  styles  of  the  West.  But  give  us  time: 
we  are  anxious  to  learn.  However,  some  of  the  young  men  in  our  schools  are 
really  quite  fine  looking  in  their  new  Western  coiffure,  giving  us  a glimpse  of 
what  the  face  of  China  will  be  at  its  best,  not  many  years  hence. 

Speaking  of  schools,  the  new  era  has  popularized  our  Mission  Schools,  and 
the  number  of  students  has  greatly  increased.  Our  Siangtan  Boys’  School  has 
an  increase  of  40  per  cent,  over  last  year’s  enrollment.  They  all  pay  tuition, 
and  a number  come  from  as  far  away  as  Bao  Ging,  150  miles  away  from  Saing- 
tan.  This  school  today  had  special  exercises — gotten  up  by  the  boys — to  cele- 
brate Independence  Day.  They  invited,  among  others,  the  Girls’  Boarding 
School,  as  guests.  When  the  pupils  of  the  latter  arrived  in  the  hall,  the  boys 
rose  in  unison  and  saluted  with  a bow,  a compliment  which  the  young  ladies 
bashfully  returned.  After  the  exercises,  a picture  of  the  two  schools  together  ( !) 
was  taken.  Should  our  friends  at  home  see  this  picture,  they  might  think  we 
had  a co-educational  institution  in  Hunan.  China,  however,  has  not  yet  (with 
the  emphasis  on  the  yet ) been  modernized  and  westernized  to  this  extent. 

The  hospital,  too,  is  showing  the  fruits  of  the  new  era.  The  work  of  the 
doctors  and  the  Red  Cross  during  the  war,  has  given  many  who  were  sus- 
picious of  the  western  ^Esculapius  with  his  magic  drugs  and  his  still  more 
fearsome  knife,  a confidence  and  trust,  which  finds  expression  in  the  increased 
number  of  patients  who  come  to  the  clinic  for  treatment.  Last  week  a number 
of  disbanded  soldiers  got  into  a fight  with  some  of  the  regulars  in  town,  with 
the  result,  that  Dr.  Tooker  was  busy  long  after  midnight  trying  to  repair  the 
damages  inflicted.  Even  so,  three  died,  while  two  are  still  in  the  hospital, 
convalescing. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  citizens  of  China  are  showing  a friendlier  atti-t 
tude  toward  the  Christian  propaganda  than  did  the  subjects  of  the  Manchu  em- 
peror. The  fact  that  the  spirit  of  the  Manchus  had  been  anti-Christian  and 
anti-foreign,  made  it  more  natural  for  the  new  tendencies  to  be  in  the  opposite 
direction.  As  an  illustration  of  this:  A Chinese  pastor  in  Shanghai  said  that 
he  had  heard  the  people  saying  that  since  the  old  government  has  been  put 


away,  the  people  will  have  to  change  their  religion  also,  and  idol  worship  will 
have  to  cease. 

The  fact  that  many  leaders  in  the  new  government  are  Christians  or  are 
in  sympathy  with  Christianity,  is  undoubtedly  a great  factor  in  influencing  the 
masses  to  be  more  friendly  and  open-minded.  In  Wu  Chang,  earlier  in  the  year,  .. 
there  gathered  over  two  hundred  delegates,  both  Christian  and  non-Christian, 
to  discuss  the  formation  of  “The  Army  of  Heavenly  Salvation,”  whose  object  ; 
was  to  be  the  adoption  of  Christianity  as  the  national  religion,  with  complete 
freedom  of  religious  belief.  The  father  of  two  boys  in  our  school, — a wealthy  | 
ex-official, — told  Mrs.  Lingle  that  he  would  like  to  see  both  his  boys  become  if 
Christians  and  join  the  Church:  an  attitude  very  different  from  that  of  former 
years. 

Our  reading  room  on  the  main  street  is  well  patronized  by  men  who  wish  1 
to  see  our  newspapers  and  magazines.  The  newspaper  seems  to  be  flourishing 
in  China  at  present.  Peking  alone  boasts  of  forty-six. 

On  Sunday  I baptized  seven  new  members.  There  are  thirty  more  inquirers 
here,  but  they  are  not  yet  sufficiently  instructed  to  be  admitted  into  church  mem- 
bership. Our  Chenchow  station  has  added  over  seventy  to  its  church  mem- 
bership this  past  year, — the  largest  number  so  far  received  in  a single  year. 

Our  Mission  has  just  taken  over  the  work  and  Christians  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society  which  has  withdrawn  from  Hunan.  This  makes  our  Mission, 
in  workers,  territory  occupied  and  Christian  membership,  the  largest  mission 
working  in  Hunan.  With  the  present  opportunities,  and  with  the  prayers  and 
support  of  the  Church  at  home,  we  should  reap  an  abundant  harvest.  For 
us  in  Hunan,  the  revolution  came  a little  ':oo  early  to  enable  us  adequately  to 
cope  with  the  situation.  We  need  trained  workers  for  our  day  schools,  and 
trained  evangelists  for  our  out-stations.  Our  work  in  the  province  has  not  been 
established  sufficiently  long  for  our  schools  to  have  had  time  to  have  trained 
men  for  these  purposes.  Until  that  time  comes,  we  must  rely  upon  the  other 
provinces  to  supply  us  with  trained  men. 

Our  Mission  has  just  decided  to  open  a new  station,  in  Changsha.  This 
is  the  capital  of  the  province,  as  well  as  its  industrial  and  educational  centre. 

It  isl  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  influential  cities  in  the  country.  Here 
meet  the  scholar  and  student;  merchant  and  statesman,  formulate  public  opin- 
ion and  then  disseminate  it  to  the  ends  of  the  province.  Hunan, — and,  in  Hunan, 
Changsha, — has  had  more  than  her  proportionate  share  in  influencing  the  old 
empire,  and  in  helping  to  mould  the  new  republic. 


“CHINA  CAMPAIGN  SUBSCRIPTION” 

In  view  of  the  emergency  in  China,  and  the  unprecedented  opportunity  for 
Foreign  Mission  work  in  the  Chinese  Empire,  I agree  to  give  annually  for  the 
next  three  years,  in  addition  to  my  regular  gifts  for  Foreign  Missions  and  the 
other  Boards  of  the  Church: 

On  or  before 

Date - 


each  year 
.Dollars  per  annum. 


.191 


Signature. 


Address. 


Member  of ...Church  of 

If  any  donor  feels  that  he  can  make  but  one  year’s  subscription  at  this  time,  he 
should  cancel  the  phrases  “annually  for  the  next  three  years”  and  ‘‘per  annum.” 

Pledges  and  gifts  in  payment  of  them  should  be  sent  direct  to  Mr.  Dwight  H.  Day, 
Treas.,  156  Fifth  Ave.,  N.  Y.  City,  who  will  credit  such  gifts  to  the  proper  church  as 
indicated.  ...  . 

Pledges  and  gifts  for  the  Women’s  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  should  be  sent  through 
the  Treasurer  of  the  Local  Women’s  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 


January  1,  1913 


Form  No.  1889 


The  Willett  Press,  New  York 


